Wednesday,
Armenian Tycoon Wins Government Contract Without Tender
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Khachatur Sukiasian attends a meeting of a standing committee of the
Armenian parliament, Yerevan, January 23, 2023.
Amid growing questions about integrity in public procurement in Armenia, the
government has awarded, without a competitive tender, another contract to a
company belonging to the family of Khachatur Sukiasian, a pro-government
businessman and parliamentarian.
The Armenian Interior Ministry will pay the company, SIL Insurance, about
$500,000 to buy yearly insurance coverage for some 2,000 vehicles used by the
national police. SIL reportedly signed earlier similar deals with other
government agencies.
The Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it had checked with other insurance
firms and found out that they would charge higher fees for the mandatory
insurance. It did not disclose those fees or explain why it did not formalize
the procedure through a formal tender.
Armenian anti-corruption experts criticized the ministry’s decision. Varuzhan
Hoktanian, who runs the local branch of the Berlin-based watchdog Transparency
International, said the no-bid contract awarded to Sukiasian’s firm carries a
“corruption risk.”
“I cannot be sure that they really sent inquiries [to other insurers,]”
Hoktanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“It’s hard to presume that they did that without a tender because of a lack of
time,” said Hayk Martirosian, a lawyer advising a German company.
Armenian law allows the government not to put contracts for the delivery of
goods or services out to competitive tender in some cases. The number of such
government decisions has reportedly increased in recent years, prompting
concerns from opposition figures and civil society activists.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian inspects new Patrol Police vehicles in
Gyumri, April 16, 2022.
Hoktanian pointed out that the government’s handling of procurements is one of
the reasons why Transparency International downgraded Armenia’s position in its
annual survey of corruption perceptions around the world released late last
month.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian last week expressed concern at the downgrade and
admitted shortcomings in his government’s stated fight against corruption. At
the same time, he blamed Armenian media outlets accusing members of his
political team of illicit enrichment.
Pashinian pledged to separate business from politics when he swept to power
during the 2018 “velvet revolution.” He declared shortly afterwards that
Armenian entrepreneurs no longer need parliament seats in order to protect and
increase their assets.
Sukiasian and another wealthy businessman were elected to the current Armenian
parliament on the ruling Civil Contract party’s ticket in June 2021.
Sukiasian and his extended family have reportedly expanded their business
interests since 2018. In particular, the Hetq.am investigative publication
reported in 2021 that a fuel importing company set up by them in 2020 has signed
with the Armenian Defense Ministry supply contracts worth $14 million.
The tycoon could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Drug Trafficking Soars In Armenia
• Narine Ghalechian
Armenia -- A photo released by the State Revenue Committee on March 3, 2021
shows an Armenian customs officer and a sniffer dog searching through boxes
which authorities say contained heroin smuggled from Iran.
Drug trafficking cases registered by Armenian law-enforcement authorities nearly
doubled last year, raising serious concerns in a country not accustomed to
widespread drug abuse.
The sharp increase is widely blamed on increasingly accessible synthetic drugs
mainly sold through the internet and, in particular, social media platforms such
as Telegram.
The Armenian police reported a total of 743 trafficking cases in 2022. Gevorg
Sargsian, a prosecutor dealing with illegal drug trade, downplayed the figure on
Tuesday, saying that it also reflects an increased number of cases detected and
solved by the police and other law-enforcement bodies.
Sargsian claimed that his foreign colleagues are impressed with the success of
Armenia’s fight against such crimes.
“The law-enforcement bodies of countries with much greater capacities have the
same difficulties as the Armenian law-enforcement bodies do,” he told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service.
Critics, notably relatives of Armenians suffering from drug addiction, are
unconvinced by these assurances, pointing to the rapid spread of banned
substances in the country.
The walls of residential buildings and other public areas across Yerevan now
have inscriptions showing the links to Telegram channels selling drugs. A young
woman who asked not to be identified said her brother was one of their regular
clients before ending up in a psychiatric hospital.
“People can buy everything on those Telegram channels,” she complained.
The Telegram logo is seen on a screen of a smartphone, April 13, 2018.
Sargsian insisted that the authorities are cracking down on the illegal online
trade. In his words, over the last three years they have identified and charged
over two dozen members of four criminal associations that old several million
dollars’ worth of narcotics through social media. Two such individuals are now
standing trial on relevant charges, added the prosecutor.
Gayane Vartazarian, a deputy director of Armenia’s main narcology clinic, said
she is especially concerned about the growing number of juveniles and women
using narcotics. She said the number of women who applied to the clinic rose
from 76 in 2021 to 116 in 2022.
“I wouldn’t say that these numbers are catastrophic,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service. “But these are large numbers and they are rising.”
Some critics of the Armenian government link the alarming trend with recent
years’ increase in Armenia’s overall crime rate, saying that the country is not
as safe as it used to be. The total number of various crimes registered by the
police rose by over 24 percent in 2022.
Armenian FM Visits Quake-Hit Turkey
Turkey - Foreign Ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey and Ararat Mirzoyan of
Armenia meet in Ankara, .
Armenia’s assistance to victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey could
facilitate the normalization of relations between the two neighboring states,
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after holding talks with his
visiting Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday.
Mirzoyan flew to Ankara hours after Turkey again opened a border crossing with
Armenia to receive a second batch of humanitarian aid sent by Yerevan.
A convoy of Armenian trucks loaded with food, medicine and other relief supplies
headed to the southeastern Turkish city of Adiyaman where a 27-strong Armenian
rescue team has been searching for possible survivors of the quake that killed
at least 35,000 people.
Mirzoyan visited Adiyaman and spoke with the Armenian rescuers later on
Wednesday.
"Armenia has extended its hand of friendship, showed solidarity and cooperation
with us in this difficult time ... We need to continue this solidarity,"
Cavusoglu told a joint news conference in Ankara with Mirzoyan.
“The normalization process in the South Caucasus region is going on. We believe
that our cooperation in the humanitarian field will support this process,” he
added, according to Reuters.
In that regard, Cavusoglu pointed not only to ongoing efforts to improve
Turkish-Armenian relations but also Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
Turkey - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan inspects an Armeian
search-and-rescue team in Adiyaman, .
The two ministers said they discussed their governments’ efforts to normalize
bilateral relations. In Mirzoyan’s words, they reached understandings on
rebuilding a medieval bridge on the Turkish-Armenian border and transport
infrastructure “in advance of a full opening of the border.” He gave no details.
Turkey has for decades made the opening of the border and the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace
deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this
precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January
2022.
Turkish and Armenian officials held four rounds of negotiations before
announcing in July that the border will be opened for citizens of third
countries. Mirzoyan reiterated Yerevan’s hopes for the “full normalization of
relations” and “complete opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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